Discuss the problems of the Central Business Districts of MEDC cities

In this essay I will be writing about the Central Business District (CBD), it's problems, and possible solutions to them. Also I will show how the CBD relates to the Burgess and the Hoyt models. The main things that are located in the CBD are: shops, department stores, and office blocks. The main functions of the CBD are commerce, employment and entertainment. The CBD has the widest range of shops, and the highest amount of department stores, as it is very densely populated during the day. People come to the CBD for shopping, as you will have no trouble finding what you are looking for. In the CBD lots of businesses have their offices there. For example: solicitors, banks etc. The entertainment is also located in the CBD. Theaters, cinemas, nightclubs etc. are all located in the Central Business District because it is very highly populated in the evenings/nights. A good example is London's West End. The CBD is located in the same place on both Burgess's and Hoyt's models which is in the middle of the city. (As shown on the diagrams below.) It is located there because it is easily accessible and most of the public transport meets there. Central Business District Central Business District The CBD faces many severe problems due to the high density of people, cars etc. Many of those problems are trying to be solved by the government, but unfortunately so far they have not been successful. One of the major problems is traffic congestion. Traffic congestion is a very big problem that causes not only jammed streets, and delays but also pollution, which is another big problem. Traffic congestions is caused by the fact that the streets and roads where laid down before the car was invented. Back then horse-carriages were in use and the roads were not getting jammed. The other thing that causes this problem is the very high ownership of cars. Many people own more than one car. Many roads are being gridlocked for many minutes or sometimes even hours. Also lots of shops , services and offices are located in the CBD so people want to get to them, so the roads are congested. Some solutions have been attempted to solve the problem. These include: Ring roads, by-passes that divert the traffic from the CBD and instead go around it. It may seem that it would take longer, but that is not the case, as in the CBD you cannot travel fast, there are traffic lights, etc. but on the motorway there are no traffic lights and you can travel much faster so you take less time then you would if you travel through the CBD. An example of a ring-road is the M 25 going around London. It is so successful the government is planning to expand it so each side has 6 lanes, instead of the 3 it has now. Another solution proposed by me, is the banning of heavy lorries from going through the CBD as they take up lots of space and cause congestion. That way there will be more space for cars, and lorries do tend to block streets while turning, etc Also I think that multistory car park and † park and ride† schemes would help to reduce the traffic in the CBD. It would help because people would park their cars in a multistory car park or the would park it on the suburbs of the city and ride to the CBD using public transport, that not only would save them time, but also money because parking in the CBD is very expensive, and it's hard to find a space. In Rio de Janeiro in Brazil they have a scheme in which on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays only cars with an odd last number plate are allowed to drive in the CBD and on the remaining last 3 days, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. On Sunday anyone can drive. I think that this method of reducing cars in the CBD is good and successful for cities in LEDC countries because people can only just about afford one car let alone two. That's why this would not be doing so well in MEDC countries such as England, because people can afford two cars, one with an odd number plate and one with an even number plate so they will be able to drive on any day of the week. The solution attempted by the Mayor of London is † Congestion Charging†. Basically you have to pay 5 pounds so that you can drive into the CBD. This method has been successful in one-way, but yet still there are a lot of cars in the CBD, although some people do choose to go around now, that they have to pay, or they choose to travel by the public transit. I also think that if the government invested some money into improving the public transport drastically, then probably more and more people would choose to travel by it, recognising that it is faster than travelling by car and not so gross. Also another solution that I think would be successful is car sharing. For example I think that some people go to 2 places that are really close to each other, and yet still they take 2 cars, when they could take only one. That would help because there would eventually be less cars around, so there will be less traffic jams, so people will see that it is a good idea because they get to work on time, or maybe even they can sleep for another 10 minutes or so. Furthermore I think that pedestrianization of certain high streets is a good idea. For example Bond Street in London. That way it will encourage people to take the public transport as they won't be able to go on that road in their car anyway, and the pedestrians will have more space so they will move about more freely. Also allowing only â€Å"black taxis† and busses on to certain roads is a good suggestion, because it will also encourage people to take the public transport. In addition I think that introducing bus lanes is an excellent scheme, because the busses won't be stuck in the traffic jams, and they will take up less space because they will have to keep to their lane. That way more people might start to travel by busses, as they will see that it is quicker. This will result in the number of cars on the road to decrease. The second chief problem the CBD is facing is pollution. Pollution is the air that is polluted but also water, land, noise and garbage in the streets. Polluted air causes many diseases such as asthma and bronchitis. Not only it is not healthy for us to breathe in, but also it doesn't look to appealing when car fumes are floating everywhere. Vehicle fumes, especially petrol and diesel, mostly cause polluted air. Cars are the biggest air polluted in the CBD, as there are thousands of them. Traffic congestion makes the pollution even worse because while the car is stopped, it r releases more fumes than it does whilst moving. The government are tackling this problem, but so far they do not seem to succeed in it. In my opinion there are quite a few solutions to this dilemma. Firstly I think that banning heavy lorries (as I mentioned before) is a very good way of reducing pollutions as they give of many fumes and most of them run on diesel, which is very bad for the environment. That way fewer fumes will be released so it will be healthier to live/work there. Secondly I think that if all the busses were running on methane, then it would release less poisonous fumes than diesel. Methane is more environment friendly than petrol or diesel and it won't be so destructive to the surroundings. Thirdly I propose that people start to use bikes more than they do now. For example they could get to work by bike rather than by car. That way not only it would be better fro the environment, but also the people will work on their fitness, and some might find it highly entertaining. In Japan, China, and S/N Korea many people travel by bikes. Bikes are the mean form of transport over there and the atmosphere is cleaner. In addition I think that increased road sweeping can be successful. If the government invested more money into the cleaning processes of the CBD then it would help to solve the problem of pollution. If we had more road sweepers employed and maybe a higher pay for them then the CBD will ultimately be cleaner and the pollution level will drop (hopefully). Like they do in Holland. Also there is lots of garbage left lying around the streets at the end of the day left by coffee shops, cloths stores, restaurants etc. that should be cleaned up immediately, because it attract lots of diseases and looks unpleasantly. Another solution to undertake this problem is to enhance the tree and shrub planting. I think that would be successful, because trees and shrubs photosynthesis producing oxygen so they make the air cleaner. That way we could have more hedges, grass areas etc. and the air will be cleaner. Noise pollution can be sometimes unbearable as well. It is mostly produced by cars, lorries motorbikes etc. There aren't many solutions to this problem. The main thing is to reduce the amount of vehicles driven in the CBD and this is linked with traffic congestion. The further difficulty the CBD faces is the high cost of land. The land in the CBD is very expensive because lots of shops and businesses locate their stores/offices and it's become very cramped. Because of this, the competition some traders have had to leave and re-locate their business out-side the city center. Every business wants to set up there because all the people go there either for shopping, work or entertainment, also its easily accessible. One of the solutions I would attempt is to start building high-rise office blocks on a small area, but tall. That way we save space and money because we only pay for the space we take up on the ground. So now more offices can situate their offices in the city center. Another solution for this conflict is the building of out-of-town shopping centers in the suburbs or the rural-urban fringe. They need to take up lots of space so the land is cheap there so they have the money to build there stores there. People then travel there to and back. This process is called decentralization. Also most of them have free parking which is very attractive to customers, as they don't like paying for the parking space. In conclusion I think that the solution to the CBD's problems are hard to implement because the CBD is very crowded big, and it involved lots of co-operation from all of the people. Furthermore I don't think the CBD will ever get rid of it's problems because it will continue to get bigger and the amount of cars/shops/businesses etc. will always grow, and so will the competition, so it will be impossible to get ride of urban decline , pollution, traffic congestion etc.

Tata Ace

Marketing StatergyX MBA 18 – Vashi Core IIHerat Mehta Henry Ford said that customers could get cars of any color as long as it was black, while Tata Motors went to customers before designing Ace and asked them about the price and features that they wanted. Compare and contrast between these two approaches? 1. Both the cases are related to Automobile industries. Mr. Ford is talking about passenger cars & tata is talking about commercial vehicles. Main points can be argued as follows. Ford Cars| Tata Ace| Passenger Vehicles| SCV| Already made a huge market & business| Trying to make a new segment in the business| Going for Mass production| Product aimed at saving the entire business. | Almost monopoly business as 50 % of the requirement was fulfilled by Ford| Looking for the new customer or converting customers for their product. | Assembly line production planned. | Product for the people & by the people concept. | Production can be faster as black is the fastest drying colour| Not clear about the achievable sales from the target 30,000 units per year. Only colour becomes constraint for the prospective buyer. | The entire design concept is yet to be proved. | To summarise, both the approaches look fine at their own stages. Identify two activities done by Tata Motors while applying the marketing concept for developing Ace? 2. Implemented cross – functional teams which used 3P concept. (Production, preparation process) Extensive market study considering all possible factors like political, growth, devel opment and also customer need and requirements. Product was designed as the product from the customer, for the customer and designed it as a vehicle to service the last mile distribution. What are the different types of benefits or gratifications that consumers can draw from a product or a service? Discuss with respect to the case? 3. The Benefits that the customers can take from Tata Ace: * Better cost per ton for transportation. * Better fuel efficiency. * Safety * Durability * Weather proofing for the driver. * Additional payload. * Higher status in the community. * Personal motivation to start own business. Better manoeuvrability, can travel on all roads without restrictions, Can travel longer distance at a stretch and can reach smallest of the lanes or areas. * Self satisfaction of having or driving a small truck. What marketing lessons did you learn from the entire case study related to marketing? 4. Following points are very important for marketing a product * It is very important to involve marketing concepts while or prio r to design of a product. * Development of any product should involve all marketing factors for the success of the product. It is important to consider economical situations while doing marketing research. * Same marketing concepts may not work every time for different products or for similar products. * It is must to involve (consider) end users while designing a product. * It is also important to make a proper market segmentation and define target market for any product. * Emotional consideration while defining marketing strategy is very important. * To reach mass in India, marketing should be done in all languages & also in local media. The product should be supported strongly by local availability and after sales service. * It is important to avoid finance related issues of the prospective customers. marketing initiatives you would like to suggest for the future of Tata Ace? 5. Tata should take following Initiatives: * Give more models with different options like, powerful engin e, air-conditioning, option of more colours and body size. * Tata should target further into business specific models. * Reinforce service centres with educational drive & free services. Should make Ace at different geographical plats so that the supply is faster and cheaper. * Tata should launch a higher capacity version on the same platform again naming Ace + or equivalent. * To conduct a survey on the parts which are most unreliable & work on them. * To reduce cost of parts & make them easily available so that the duplication market can be avoided. * A new & fresh team to work on future actions required & again go back to the customers for further input. (This time should go to existing customer showing the commitment from the company)

Just-in-Time Production and Total Quality Management

JUST-IN-TIME Production and TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT Introduction In today’s competitive world shorter product life cycles, customers rapid demands and quickly changing business environment is putting lot of pressures on manufacturers for quicker response and shorter cycle times. Now the manufacturers put pressures on their suppliers. One way to ensure quick turnaround is by holding inventory, but inventory costs can easily become prohibitive. A wiser approach is to make your production agile, able to adapt to changing customer demands. This can only be done by JUST IN TIME (JIT) philosophy. JIT is both a philosophy and collection of management methods and techniques used to eliminate waste (particularly inventory). Waste results from any activity that adds cost without adding value, such as moving and storing. Just-in-time (JIT) is a management philosophy that strives to eliminate sources of such manufacturing waste by producing the right part in the right place at the right time. Features JIT (also known as lean production or stockless production) should improve profits and return on investment by reducing inventory levels (increasing the inventory turnover rate), reducing variability, improving product quality, reducing production and delivery lead times, and reducing other costs (such as those associated with machine setup and equipment breakdown). The basic elements of JIT manufacturing are people involvement, plants, and system. People involvement deal with maintaining a good support and agreement with the people involved in the production. This is not only to reduce the time and effort of implementation of JIT, but also to minimize the chance of creating implementation problems. The plant itself also has certain requirements that are needed to implement the JIT, and those are plant layout, demand pull production, Kanban, self-inspection, and continuous improvement. The plant layout mainly focuses on maximizing working flexibility. It requires the use of multi-function workers†. Demand pull production is where you produce when the order is received. This allows for better management of quantity and time more appropriately. Kanban is a Japanese term for card or tag. This is where special inventory and process information are written on the card. This helps in tying and linking the process more efficiently. Self-inspection is where the workers on the line inspect products as they move along, this helps in catching mistakes immediately. Lastly continuous improvement which is the most important concept of the JIT system. This simply asks the organization to improve its productivity, service, operation, and customer service in an on-going basis. In a JIT system, underutilized (excess) capacity is used instead of buffer inventories to hedge against problems that may arise. The target of JIT is to speed up customer response while minimizing inventories at the same time. Inventories help to response quickly to changing customer demands, but inevitably cost money and increase the needed working capital. JIT requires precision, as the right parts must arrive â€Å"just-in-time† at the right position (work station at the assembly line). It is used primarily for high-vPolume repetitive flow manufacturing processes. History The technique was first used by the Ford Motor Company as described explicitly by Henry Ford’s My Life and Work (1922): â€Å"We have found in buying materials that it is not worth while to buy for other than immediate needs. † They bought only enough to fit into the plan of production, taking into consideration the state of transportation at the time. If transportation were perfect and an even flow of materials could be assured, it would not be necessary to carry any stock whatsoever. The carloads of raw materials would arrive on schedule and in the planned order and amounts, and go from the railway cars into production. That would save a great deal of money, for it would give a very rapid turnover and thus decrease the amount of money tied up in materials. With bad transportation one has to carry larger stocks. They followed the concept of â€Å"dock to factory floor† in which incoming materials are not even stored or warehoused before going into production. This paragraph also shows the need for an effective freight management system (FMS) and Ford’s Today and Tomorrow (1926) describes one. The technique was subsequently adopted and publicised by Toyota Motor Corporation of Japan as part of its Toyota Production System (TPS). Japanese corporations could afford large amounts of land to warehouse finished products and parts. Before the 1950s, this was thought to be a disadvantage because it reduced the economic lot size. (An economic lot size is the number of identical products that should be produced, given the cost of changing the production process over to another product. ) The undesirable result was poor return on investment for a factory. Also at that time, Japanese companies had a bad reputation as far as quality of manufacturing and car manufacturing in particular was concerned. One motivated reason for developing JIT and some other better production techniques was that after World War II, Japanese people had a very strong incentive to develop a good manufacturing technique which would help them rebuild their economy. They also had a strong working ethic which was concentrated on work rather than on leisure, and this kind of motivation was what drove Japanese economy to succeed. Therefore Japan’s wish to improve the quality of its production led to the worldwide launch of JIT method of inventory Toyota Motors The basic elements of JIT were developed by Toyota in the 1950’s, and became known as the Toyota Production System (TPS). The chief engineer Taiichi Ohno, a former shop manager and eventually vice president of Toyota Motor Company at Toyota in the 1950s examined accounting assumptions and realized that another method was possible. The factory could be made more flexible, reducing the overhead costs of retooling and reducing the economic lot size to the available warehouse space. Over a period of several years, Toyota engineers redesigned car models for commonality of tooling for such production processes as paint-spraying and welding. Toyota was one of the first to apply flexible robotic systems for these tasks. Some of the changes were as simple as standardizing the hole sizes used to hang parts on hooks. The number and types of fasteners were reduced in order to standardize assembly steps and tools. In some cases, identical subassemblies could be used in several models. Toyota engineers then determined that the remaining critical bottleneck in the retooling process was the time required to change the stamping dies used for body parts. These were adjusted by hand, using crowbars and wrenches. It sometimes took as long as several days to install a large (multiton) die set and adjust it for acceptable quality. Further, these were usually installed one at a time by a team of experts, so that the line was down for several weeks. Toyota implemented a program called Single Minute Exchange of Die (SMED). With very simple fixtures, measurements were substituted for adjustments. Almost immediately, die change times fell to about half an hour. At the same time, quality of the stampings became controlled by a written recipe, reducing the skill required for the change. Analysis showed that the remaining time was used to search for hand tools and move dies. Procedural changes (such as moving the new die in place with the line in operation) and dedicated tool-racks reduced the die-change times to as little as 40 seconds. Dies were changed in a ripple through the factory as a new product began flowing. After SMED, economic lot sizes fell to as little as one vehicle in some Toyota plants. Carrying the process into parts-storage made it possible to store as little as one part in each assembly station. When a part disappeared, that was used as a signal to produce or order a replacement. JIT was firmly in place in numerous Japanese plants by the early 1970’s. JIT began to be adopted in the U. S. in the 1980’s. Requirements JIT applies primarily to repetitive manufacturing processes in which the same products and components are produced over and over again For Example Cars, Fast Food Chains The requirements for a proper just-in-time management are: STANDARDIZATION: Where the supplies are standardized and the suppliers are trustable and close to the plant. As there is little buffer inventory between the workstations, so the quality must be high and efforts are made to prevent machine breakdowns. Those organizations that need to respond to customer demands regularly this system is also being able to respond to changes in customer demands. SOFTWARE: For JIT to work efficiently Supply Chain Planning software, companies have in the mean time extended Just-in-time manufacturing externally, by demanding from their suppliers to deliver inventory to the factory only when it’s needed for assembly, making JIT manufacturing, ordering and delivery processes even speedier, more flexible and more efficient. MULTI-FUNCTIONALITY In JIT workers are multifunctional and are required to perform different tasks. Machines are also multifunction and are arranged in small U-shaped work cells that enable parts to processed in a continuous flow through the cell. Workers produce pars one at a time within cells and transport those parts between cells in small lots. CLEANLINESS Environment is kept clean and free of waste so that any unusual occurrence are visible. SCHEDULES: Schedules are prepared only for the final assembly line, in which several different models are assembled at the same line. Requirements for the component parts and subassemblies are then pulled through the system. The â€Å"PULL† element of JIT will not work unless production is uniform and lot sizes are low. Pull system is also used to order material from suppliers (fewer in numbers usually). They make be requested to make multiple deliveries of the same item in the same day, so the manufacturing system must be flexible. QUALITY: Quality within JIT manufacturing is necessary, because without a quality program in JIT, the JIT will fail. Here we think about quality at the source and the Plan, Do, Check, Action with its statistical process control. Furthermore, techniques are also very important. The JIT technique is a pull system rather than a pull system, based on not producing things until they are needed. The well known Kanban card is used as a signal to produce. Moreover, integration also plays a key role in JIT systems. JIT integration can be found in four points of the manufacturing firm. The Accounting side, Engineering side, Customer side and Supplier side. At the accounting side, JIT has concern for WIP, utilization and overhead allocation and at the engineering side of JIT focuses on simultaneously and participative design of products and processes. Just-In-Time Total Quality Management Just-In-Time Total Quality Management is the mean of market and factory management within a humanistic environment of continuing improvement. Moreover, it means continuing improvement in social life, and working life. When applied to the factory, Kaizen means continual improvement involving managers and workers alike. When it comes to Total Quality Management, Japans strong industrial reputation is well-known around the world. Total quality control is the system, which Japan has developed to implement Kaizen or continuous improvement. The traditional description of Just-In-Time is a system for manufacturing and supplying goods that are needed. There are several important tools that are important for total quality management control, but there are seven that are even more important. These are relations diagram, affinity diagram, systematic diagram or tree diagram, matrix diagram, matrix data analysis, process decision program chart, and arrow diagram. When used properly, these seven tools will help the total quality management system by eliminating defective products. Moreover, they will help in assisting to improve productivity, complete tasks on time, eliminate waste, and reduce lead time and inventory cost. Pros and Cons of Just-in-Time Pros of Just-In-Time: Goals of JIT can vary, but there are a few that should be constant in any JIT system:   1. Increasing the organization’s ability to compete with others and remain competitive over the long run is very important. 2. The competitiveness of the firms is increased by the use of JIT manufacturing process as they can develop a more optimal process for their firms. . The key is to identify and respond to consumers needs. Customers’ needs and wants should be the most important focus for business today. This objective will help the firm on what is demanded from customers, and what is required of production. 4. Moreover, the optimal quality and cost relationship is also important. The organization should focus on zero-defect production process. Although it seems to be unrealistic in t he long run, it will eliminate a huge amount of resources and effort in inspecting, and reworking defected goods. 5. Another important goal should be to develop a reliable relationship between the suppliers. A good and long-term relationship between an organization and its suppliers helps to manage a more efficient process in inventory management, material management, and delivery system. It will also assure that the supply is stable and available when needed. 6. Moreover, adopt the idea of continuous improvement. If committed to a long-term continuous improvement idea, it will help the organization to remain competitive in the future. Cons of Just-In-Time: Regardless of the great benefits of JIT, it has its limitations: 1. For example cultural differences. The organizations cultures vary from firm to firm. There are some cultures that tie to JIT’s success, but it is difficult for an organization to change its cultures within a short time. 2. Also manufacturers that use the traditional approach which relies on storing up large amounts of inventory for backing up during bad times may have problems with getting use to the JIT system. 3. Also JIT is quite different for workers, in the sense that due to the shorter cycle time, lots of pressure and stress is added on the workers. 4. Also the JIT system throws workers off in the sense that if a problem occurs, they cannot use their own method of fixing the problem, but use methods that have been previously defined. 5. Moreover, the JIT system only works best for medium to high range of production volume manufacturers, thus leaving a question to whether it might work for low volume companies. Case in which JIT has failed Just in Time production allows companies to reduce both inventory and the entire production chain. It encourages the removal of all surplus, including surplus factories. Under normal business conditions this is not a problem. However, if there is any disruption at any given point in the supply chain, then all production grinds to a halt. Evidence of the problem with Just in Time production became clear in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita, both of which hit the US Gulf coast in 2005. At that time, no new oil refineries had been built in the US since 1976. During that time period, companies actually shut down several refineries to reduce capacity. The old refineries still operating ran at full capacity, so no new refineries were needed according to Just in Time theory since they would only produce surplus gasoline. However, most of these refineries were clustered around the Gulf coast. When the Katrina hit, 15 oil refineries in Mississippi and Louisiana representing 20% of US refining capacity was shut down. Rita damaged another 16 refineries in Texas, accounting for 2. 3 million barrels per day of capacity shut down. The lack of surplus in oil refining caused a shock to the United States. Gasoline prices surged. Had companies not shut down refineries in order to reduce capacity according to Just in Time theory, particularly refineries on the west coast, then it is likely that gasoline prices would have remained stable. US regular grade gasoline prices were $2. 154 per gallon on November 28, 2005, down from a spike of $3. 09 on September 19, 2005 in the immediate aftermath of the hurricane Katrina disaster Case-Study The work described  in this case study was undertaken in a young, rapidly expanding company in the financial services sector with no previous experience with Total Quality Management (TQM). The quality project began with a two-day introductory awareness program covering concepts, cases, implementation strategies and imperatives of TQM. The program was conducted for the senior management team of the company. This program used interactive exercises and real life case studies to explain the concepts of TQM and to interest them in committing resources for a demonstration project. Step 1. Define the Problem 1. 1 Selecting the theme: A meeting of the senior management of the company was held. Brainstorming produced a list of around 10 problems. The list was prioritized using the weighted average table, followed by a structured discussion to arrive at a consensus on the two most important themes — customer service and sales productivity. Under the customer service theme, â€Å"Reducing the Turnaround Time from an Insurance Proposal to Policy† was selected as the most obvious and urgent problem. The company was young, and therefore had few claims to process so far. The proposal-to-policy process therefore impacted the greatest number of customers. An appropriate cross functional group was set up to tackle this problem. . 2 Problem = customer desire – current status. Current status: What did the individual group members think the turnaround is currently? As each member began thinking questions came up. â€Å"What type of policies do we address? † Medical policies or non-medical? The latter are take longer because of the medical examination of the client required. â€Å"Between what stages do we con sider turnaround? † Perceptions varied, with each person thinking about the turnaround within their department. The key process stages were mapped: [pic] Several sales branches in different parts of the country sent proposals into the Central Processing Center. After considerable debate it was agreed at first to consider turnaround between entry into the computer system at the Company Sales Branch and dispatch to the customer from the Central Processing Center (CPC). Later the entire cycle could be included. The perception of the length of turnaround by different members of the team was recorded. It was found that on an average Non-Medical Policies took 17 days and Medical Policies  took 35 days. Customer desire: What was the turnaround desired by the customer? Since a customer survey was not available, individual group members were asked to think as customers — imagine they had just given a completed proposal form to a sales agent. When would they expect the policy in hand? From the customer’s point of view they realized that they did not differentiate between medical and non-medical policies. Their perception averaged out six days for the required turnaround. â€Å"Is this the average time or maximum time that you expect? † they were asked. â€Å"Maximum,† they responded. It was clear therefore that the average must be less than six days. The importance of â€Å"variability† had struck home. For 99. 7 percent delivery within the customer limit the metric was defined. Therefore the average customer desire was less than 6 days and the current status was that of 64 days for non-medical policies and for medical policies it was 118 days. Therefore the problem was to reduce the non-medical policies from 64 to 6 days and medical policies from 118 to 6 days. The performance requirement appeared daunting. Therefore the initial target taken in the Mission Sheet (project charter) was to reduce the turnaround by 50 percent — to 32 and 59 days respectively. Step 2. Analysis of the Problem In a session the factors causing large turnaround times from the principles of JIT were explained. These were Input arrival patterns †¢ Waiting times in process. o Batching of work. o Imbalanced processing line. o Too many handovers. o Non-value added activities, etc. †¢ Processing times †¢ Scheduling †¢ Transport times †¢ Deployment of manpower Typically it was found that waiting times constitute the bulk of processing turnaround times. Process Mapping (Value Stream Mapping in Lean) was undertaken. The aggregate results are summarized below: Number of operations 84 Number of handovers 13 In-house processing time (estimated) 126 man-mins. Range of individual stage time 2 to 13 mins. To check this estimate it was decided to collect data — run two policies without waiting and record the time at each stage. The trial results amazed everyone: Policy No. 1 took 100 minutes and Policy No. 2 took 97 minutes. Almost instantly the mindset changed from doubt to desire: â€Å"Why can’t we process every proposal in this way? † Step 3. Generating Ideas In the introductory program of TQM during the JIT session the advantages of flow versus batch processing had been dramatically demonstrated using a simple exercise. Using that background a balanced flow line was designed as follows: 1. Determine the station with the maximum time cycle which cannot be split up by reallocation 8 minutes. 2. Balance the line to make the time taken at each stage equal 8 minutes as far as possible. 3. Reduce the stages and handovers — 13 to 8. 4. Eliminate non-value added activities — transport — make personnel sit next to each other. 5. Agree processing to be done in batch of one proposal. Changing the mindset of the employees so they will accept and welcome change is critical to building a self-sustaining culture of improvement. In this case, the line personnel were involved in a Quality Mindset Program so that they understood the reasons for change and the concepts behind them and are keen to experiment with new methods of working. The line was ready for a test run. Step 4. Testing the Idea Testing in stages is a critical stage. It allows modification of ideas based upon practical experience and equally importantly ensures acceptance of the new methods gradually by the operating personnel. Stage 1: Run five proposals flowing through the system and confirm results. The test produced the following results: Average turnaround time: < 1 day In-house processing time: 76 mins. There was jubilation in the team. The productivity had increased by 24 percent. Stage 2:  It was agreed to run the new system for five days — and compute the average turnaround to measure the improvement. It was agreed that only in-house processing was covered at this stage and that the test would involve all policies at the CPC but only one branch as a model. This model, once proved, could be replicated at other branches. The test results showed a significant reduction in turnaround: 1. For all non-medical policies from 64 to 42 days or 34% 2. For policies of the model branch from 64 to 27 days of 60% The Mission Sheet goal of 50 percent reduction had been bettered for the combined model branch and CPC. Further analysis of the data revealed other measures which could reduce the turnaround further. Overall reduction reached an amazing 75 percent. Turnaround, which had been pegged at 64 days, was now happening at 99. 7 percent on-time delivery in 15 days. Step 5. Implementing the Ideas Regular operations with the new system was planned to commence. However, two weeks later it was still not implemented. One of the personnel on the line n CPC had been released by his department for the five-day trial to sit on the line but was not released on a regular basis. The departmental head had not attended the TQM awareness program and therefore did not understand why this change was required. There were two options — mandate the change or change the mindset to accept the change. Since the latter option produces a robust impleme ntation that will not break down under pressures it was agreed that the group would summarize TQM, the journey and the results obtained in the project so far and also simulate the process with a simple exercise in front of the department head. This session was highly successful and led to the release of the person concerned on a regular basis. Step 6. Follow-up †¢ The process was run for one month with regular checks. The results obtained were marginally better and average time reduced to 11 days. †¢ Customer reaction: Sales management and sales agents (internal customers) clearly noticed the difference. For instance one sales manager reported that a customer had received a policy within a week of giving a proposal and was so amazed that he said, â€Å"If you give such service I will give you the next policy also! †¢ Adoption of a similar process at the CPC and the model branch for medical policies has already reduced the average turnaround time by 70 percent — from 118 days to 37 days. The corresponding all-India reduction was from 118 days to 71 days — a 60 percent reduction. †¢ The project objective of 50 percent in the first stage has been achieved. A quality improvement story was com piled by the project Leader for training and motivating all employees.

Executive Decision Making Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 6000 words

Executive Decision Making - Essay Example   It would be necessary before constructing a contract to determine whether the supplier will want such advances and then weigh this against operational costs of the business model. Furthermore, if the agreement between the supplier and the distributor is not going to be long-lived, contracts may ask for some variety of reimbursement related to the tooling costs to meet the distributor’s demand. This could be non-beneficial for a smaller organization that might be struggling to achieve profit. Any and all expenses must be considered before seeking foreign sourcing opportunities. If the supplier is chosen will be a partner for a multi-year relationship, then issues of potential pricing must be weighed before making this decision. Costs of manufacturing are influenced by changing labor wage rates and fluctuating prices of raw materials in the global supply chain. It can be difficult to establish an appropriate pricing agreement under a long duration contract as it is not easy to predict what costs will be incurred in the future. The vendor could, in the future, demand a higher price (which can be rejected by the distributor) which could terminate the contract. This would have disadvantages as it takes time for supplier partners to understand the needs of their client and alter manufacturing to fit distributor needs. Hence, in a price dispute, it could lead to further costs in identifying an alternative supplier. Additionally, product liability is a major concern for companies seeking overseas sourcing. There is a substantial risk that consumers purchasing products made in a foreign nation could have personal injuries as a result of using the foreign-made product or property damage if the product happens to be.

Public Speaking and the Youth of Todayv Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Public Speaking and the Youth of Todayv - Essay Example Since we do and cannot exist on our own we will need to effectively communicate our desires or messages (as this will be referred to later in this paper) to obtain the response we expect and make the communicative act more rewarding. No one is alike in its desires, opinions on certain things, acceptance even in non-acceptance of an idea for everyone is brought up in different environment by different significant others and are exposed to different stimuli. Engaging in a communicative act is, in effect, creating a common ground that will serve as a spring board for consequential interactions. We may study communication or the communicative act in two ways: either as a process and or as an activity. On the one hand, if it will be studied as a process, communication will be explored based on the basic principles involved: thinking, the verbal as well as non-verbal form of communication, the elements involved in the process (i.e source, message, channel, and the receiver), and factors affecting each element in the communicative act. ... Finally, if the communicative act is seen as an activity, the result or the effect of the communicative act will likewise be examined after engaging in a specific form of communication. In a group discussion, for example, emphasis will be on the result-i.e whether a solution has been made. In a persuasive discourse, however, whether the audience is convinced of the ideas presented by the speaker. All of these will be explained in this paper, except, of course the actual presentation of each form. Much of the discussion, however, will focus on public speaking and its effect on one of the most difficult to persuade audience: the youth. The basic guiding principles that will motivate such genre of receiver will be given emphasis in the later part of this paper. The communicative act, as specified earlier, may take different forms. The most common form, so common that it tends to be given least consideration, is intrapersonal communication or "the processes which operate within the individual (Intrapersonal Communication)."In this level of communication an individual acts as both the originating and the responding communicator. It ranges from simply thinking, meditating, and reflecting to talking to one's self or writing oneself a memo. Then there is what is called the interpersonal level of communication. While in the intrapersonal level, both the source and the receiver of the message pertain to an individual, interpersonal communication involves another person. It may take the form of a conversation, a dialogue or an interview. As you might have guessed, two personae are now actively participating, affecting and being affected in the process. The success in this

As the instruction Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

As the instruction - Essay Example It is worth noting that some of the earlier documents of this kind can be seen to greatly influence later documents and the ideas presented within them. President Roosevelt presented this paper in Congress in 1941. Some of the key ideas sene to be laid out in this paper have been widely adopted and voiced by subsequent administrations and other Americans over time. In this paper, President Roosevelt is seen to emphasize the fact that prior to the year 1941, the United States had been greatly affected by occurrences in other continents. These had seen the country involved in about two wars as well as a number of undeclared wars in the United States’ attempt to secure the basic principles of peaceful commerce and civil rights. He urged for democracy which he claimed was greatly assailed across the world. In his speech Roosevelt points out that there are some fundamental things that Americans happen to expect from their government pertaining to their economic and political system s. He summarizes these things as being security for anyone that may happen to require it, jobs offered to those who are in a capacity to work, the general preservation of all civil liberties for each and every individual, and the ending of granting of a number of special privileges to only a select few. These civil liberties, as presented by Roosevelt in 1941, were later seen to be adopted by the UN in the UDHR that it presented in 1948 as the freedom from fear and want and the freedom from of speech and religion (Roosevelt 6). The UDHR presents a number of human rights that contain compressed versions of civil liberties as declared by Roosevelt. Some of them include Article 1 that emphasizes the fact that all human beings are born equal and should therefore have both equal dignity and rights. Article 23 of the UDHR is also seen to borrow its idea from Roosevelt as it stresses the innate right of all individuals to be able to work and have a basically free choice of employment. Secu ring the freedom for individuals to essentially be in a capacity to hold a job is seen to serve to save the individual from lacking some of the wants such as food, essential medical care and housing. (UN General Assembly 2–5). Similarly, in declaring the right for everyone to obtain security, liberty and life, Article 3 of the UDHR highlights the right of all people to obtain personal security, the government should be in a capacity to provide adequate security for its citizen’s according to the expected requirements of this Article which are in turn seen to be in-line with the freedom from fear (UN General Assembly 2). In his article, Kaplan is seen to point out that the United States’ concerted efforts to promote democracy in the poorer different parts of the world are critical. In a similar fashion to Roosevelt, Kaplan stresses that the current democracy in the United States is essentially at a greater risk than ever before (Kaplan 1). Kaplan ends his article by painting a substantially gloomy picture of the potentially bleak future that stands to affect America and the various achievements that have been made possible across the world primarily as a result of the advent and continual spread of democracy. He contends that the West could arguably be seen to stand to eventually fall to the same fate as most of the earlier civilizations across the world, such as the Roman Empire that strongly believed

Industrial And Organizational Psychology Assignment

Industrial And Organizational Psychology - Assignment Example So it can be said that in this field the risk of job shortage is less, but competition level is high and in order to receive a handsome salary skill needs to be enhanced in customer dealing and convincing for which the soft skilled need to be brushed. I have been working in a phone shop for the past 2 years as a customer consultant (sales) in Carphone warehouse. This signifies that I am competent in dealing with customers, have a decent presentation skill and excellent communication skill (Rao, 2009). SECTION I: Personal Analysis In this section of the study I would be discussing my personal skill that would be the stepping stone towards a gap analysis. As far as the basic skills are the concern, I have already mentioned that my verbal communications are excellent, so this assists me to fluently interact with my customers and deal with their queries. I am also equipped with a decent presentation skill, which also helps me to demonstrate all the features of the phones to my customersà ¢â‚¬â„¢ pretty well (Randhawa, 2007). ... 2.1 Gap Analysis In this section I would be conducting a gap analysis so as to judge where I stand. The ideal skill sets of a sales consultant would be my guiding star and I would be examining my skills against those, which will give me an idea of my drawbacks. Sales executives should have proper knowledge regarding the changes in the field he/ she is working in. They should have the knowledge to assess the statistics related to sales so that they can predict future sales. They should have the ability to understand the strategies of the competitors, so as to employ better strategies to achieve success (Kaila, 2006; Talwar, 2006). If I consider my skill and compare them with this, I can say that I do understand statistics and can assess the future sales to be. I have immense interest in gadgets, so I explore phones thoroughly when they come to the store. This assists me to explain to my customers in a better way as I can interpret where they might face problems.

Individual business report Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Individual business report - Coursework Example In this regard, the report intends to delineate an effective business plan for Oblako to successfully establish its own independent airline service. The proposed business plan incorporates a number of effective steps and strategies that can enable the organisation to establish its sustainable position in the competitive industry. The proposed plan outlines major aims and objectives of the venture with respect to the current environment of the Ukrainian airline business industry. In order to facilitate to achieve the desired aims and objectives, the proposed plan also explores the current industry environment through the help of competitor analysis framework. Moreover, it also demonstrates an effective marketing plan along with coherent financial information that has been estimated to help in establishing long-term sustainability of Oblako Airlines in the Ukrainian aviation industry. Oblako Airlines (Oblako) has positioned itself as one of the major new players in the competitive airline industry of Ukraine. The Ukrainian airline industry is driven by a rising competitive pace as it is witnessed that there are a number of vital competitors operating in and around Ukraine which are from neighbouring countries such as Belarus, Russia, Romania, Moldova, Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland. The competition has raised due to the rising trend of the demographics especially their increasing income level. Therefore, it is highly essential for Oblako to execute a competitive strategy to cope with the rising pace in the Ukrainian airline industry. In terms of legal structure of the venture, it will be a partnership between two individuals wherein the risk and profit would be shared by both of them. The proposed business plan for Oblako would be highly focused on building a strong brand position with the aim of maintaining a competitive pricing strategy. Moreover, providing highest level of airline services along with improving

German Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

German - Essay Example The wall’s real purpose was most likely to halt defection and emigration, which had marked The Eastern block of communism and Germany after the end of the Second World War. This paper aims to discuss the building, function, and fall of the Berlin wall. The Berlin wall separated the people of West Berlin and East Berlin for twenty-eight years. Following the end of World War two in the year 1945, the allies on victory divided Germany into four parts. These allies were Russia, the United States, France, and Britain. Each ally took control of one sector. The sectors taken over by the British, French, and the United States merged to form the federal Republic of Germany, or West Germany. The sector controlled by the Russians became a communist republic, East Germany or as it was then called the German Democratic Republic. This was ratified on October the 7th of 1949. This created an invisible barrier that separated the West from the East. Winston Churchill christened this barrier the Iron Curtain. Despite the fact that Berlin lay deep in Soviet territory, the allies had agreed to divide the city. This led to another quarterly subdivision. The French, British, and U. S. sectors merged to form the city of West Berlin, with the sector cont rolled by the Soviets becoming the capital of East Germany and being called East Berlin. These new countries were established, not by the general population, but by the occupying forces. While the communists ruled the eastern region, most of its residents were not happy with communism and were not communists themselves. However, not a part of the iron curtain, the Berlin Wall was erected, in 1961, and acted as a reminder of the existence of the iron curtain. The wall itself was constructed from cement, steel, and barbed wire fences reinforced with explosives and traps. The wall was adorned by guard towers regularly positioned with weaponry and machineguns

Nurses in Politics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Nurses in Politics - Essay Example It costs the health care system approximately $400 million every year. In connection with these reasons, CMS argued that â€Å"patients often have a urinary catheter longer than necessary,† making majority of them developing urinary tract infection that was not meant to happen (Fox, Kaye & Urman, 2012). As introduced above, UTI is one of the facilities that are highly used in hospitals. There are other many other facilities in health care system that when not used appropriately may result in patients acquiring preventable conditions from hospitals. As a result of the cost associated with the hospital facilities such as UTIs as well as hospital infections such as the urinary infections that result from having the urinary catheter for many days, CMS recommended the evaluation of patients in every shift so as to determine whether a particular facility is of necessity to the patient (Vincent,

Spam Detection and Categorisation & Network Protection using a Lab Report

Spam Detection and Categorisation & Network Protection using a Firewall - Lab Report Example Solutions are implemented by keeping in mind the cost and time constraints for the processing of emails to be filtered. Receiving thousand of emails on the email server situate load and degrading the performance of the email server. The Anti spam system uses combine key method for recognizing the relevant datasets required as per defined rules. The anti spam engine detects the parameters from the email message header, database stores and learns the email parameters just like a switch maintaining a MAC table in its database. The selection of Parameters will depend on the security policy of the organization. The unique identification (UID) or fingerprint will be stored in the database of the anti spam system against each recipient email address. Before delivering the email to the recipient, the spam engine searches for the UID of the email which is received on the organization’s domain, so that the processing time can be minimized. The emails of which UID has already been stored in the database will be delivered to the recipient The spam engine proceeds further and check the sender’s IP address and email address in the outbound recipient’s category, if the criteria have been fulfilled, then the email message will be delivered to the recipient. And if not, the email will be stored in the unknown emails category which can be released after checking whether any new host needs to be added in the safe list. Email size, images parameters can also be defined for providing more restrictions as per IT policy. The Firewall should be deployed in such a way that the traffic, whether it is inbound or outbound should not pass to the organization critical servers without filtration via firewall. The rules defined in the firewall device or server should not conflict with other rules. It is not necessary to be aware of the traffic coming from the internet, but it is necessary to filter inbound traffic

Islam and Religious Group Essay Example for Free

Islam and Religious Group Essay †¢Religious groups (based on http://religions. pewforum. org/pdf/affiliations-all-traditions. pdf) oChristianity †¢Evangelical Protestant †¢Mainline Protestant †¢Historically Black Churches †¢Roman Catholic †¢Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) †¢Jehovah’s Witnesses †¢Orthodox (Greek, Eastern) oJudaism (Orthodox, Conservative, or Reform) oBuddhism (Theravada or Mahayana) oIslam (Sunni, Shia, Sufism) oHinduism †¢Ethnic groups (based on divisions in U. S. Census Bureau documents) oAsian (Asian descent) oBlack (African descent). oHispanic and Latino (South or Central American descent) oPacific Islander (Polynesian descent) oWhite (European descent) Part III Answer the following questions in 150 to 250 words each about the religious group you selected: †¢How does your selected religious group differ from other religious groups (such as in their beliefs, worship practices, or values)? †¢What has been the experience of your selected religious group with others that do not share its beliefs or practices? †¢In what ways has the religious group you selected contributed to American culture? †¢Provide specific examples of prejudice or discrimination your selected religious group has experienced. †¢What were the sources of this prejudice or discrimination? †¢Does what you’ve learned about this religious group help you understand it? In what ways? Answer the following questions in 150 to 250 words each about the ethnic group you selected: †¢How does your selected ethnic group differ from other ethnic groups (such as differences in ancestry, language, or culture)? †¢What has been your selected ethnic group’s experience with other ethnic groups? †¢In what ways has the ethnic group you selected contributed to American culture? †¢Identify some specific examples of prejudice or discrimination that your selected ethnic group has experienced historically. †¢What were the sources of this prejudice or discrimination? †¢Does what you’ve learned about this ethnic group help you understand it? How? Part IV Answer the following questions in 150 to 250 words each: †¢How are the prejudice and discrimination experienced by your selected religious group and ethnic group similar? †¢How are they different? †¢Can you draw any conclusions about discrimination from this comparison.

International Expansion Strategy for Snow Mobile Business

International Expansion Strategy for Snow Mobile Business Entry into new markets Pirilla is a company newly set up in Scotland. The company manufactures snow scooters (which, for the sake of this report, will be synonymous to snow mobiles) and is pondering whether to go international, and if so, where to, and how to go about it. Pirilla produces two basic models, a 125cc and a 400cc model in six colours As far as the internationalisation goes, the markets under scrutiny are Iceland, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Russia, and Luxemburg. According to a recent feasibility study, the budget only allows for two countries to be entered in an initial wave. In general, there are four basic ways of entering foreign markets: Exporting Licensing Joint venture Direct investment Of course these can come in hybrid forms as well, but by and large these are the main types that one would take into consideration when wanting to go international. The four modes are listed in ascending order of involvement in the respective foreign market, i.e. exporting the snow mobiles to any of the countries would ceteris paribus mean less local involvement than licensing etc. Exporting is very often the initial mode of entering a foreign market, especially if no structured approach has been driven in the past (i.e. structures such as those of e.g. large pharmaceutical companies, which tend to allow for immediate licensing agreements in the target country at the very least). The export approach can be a quick and dirty way of tapping a foreign market, but it may well be a sustainable way of handling foreign business if it turns out there really is no point in high degrees of local engagement. Licensing involves production abroad, but carried out by another party, i.e. the licensee. Just like exporting it does not involve any direct investment, so if the licensee is trustworthy and knows how to employ the (intangible!) assets placed at his disposal – i.e. production know-how, brands, sales strategies and areas etc – this way can turn out very beneficial as local expertise is teamed up with the licensor’s product. The downside is obvious: It is crucial to find a licensee that meets the required standards. Joint ventures do entail quite a bit of involvement in the foreign market. They are ideal if there are a number of large players and we need to gain a certain size quickly, and the partner is reliable and has similar strategic goals. However, there are many downsides to this structure. If both partners share a common competitive goal, chances are both will try to prevent the other one from getting ahead at all, which may be counterproductive as resources and up being used on controlling/confining the partner rather than on furthering the common cause. Many time joint ventures are formed for certain parts of the value chain only, e.g. for RD inbound and/or outbound logistics. The entry mode requiring most commitment is usually the one that involves foreign direct investment (FDI). The trade-off is between control and resources that have to be available. Given the high level of resources that go abroad in this case, the company should be pretty sure about what it is doing and how it is going about it. For this reason, FDI is not usually the mode of first choice for new companies. The most apparent argument in favour of a foreign entry is the limited size of the market at home. No figures are available for the number of snow mobiles registered or sold in Scotland or the UK, but it does not take much ingenuity to figure out which are the countries that provide better opportunities than the home market in terms of potential sales figures, i.e. Scandinavia, and, as far as Europe goes, probably Russia. This intuition is first of all simply based on the climate. When was the last time you saw a snowmobile in the UK? In fact, the economic impact of snowmobiling in the Scandinavian region is around USD 1.6bn per year, third behind the USA and Canada (International Snowmobile Manufacturers Association, Snowmobiling Facts: Snow Facts, n.d.). McDonald’s has opened drive-through restaurants for snowmobiles in northern Sweden. This is possible because the vehicles have to stay on marked tracks (US Department of Commerce, International Trade Administration, 2002). International coverage means higher sales number, which can lead to economies of scale. The learning associated with higher output will enable the company to cut costs and produce at more efficient levels, which will ultimately put it in a position where it can position itself in a competitive market without having to forego profit margins. According to data by the International Snowmobile Manufacturers Association, there are 409 snowmobile dealerships in Scandinavia. Rather than to wait for the pull of the market which may or may not come if Pirilla were to confine itself to operations and sales in the UK, the company should induce that pull by an initial push to the market. In other words, it would be advisable to penetrate the market at sufficiently high levels, i.e. to be present in large numbers of these dealerships. Having achieved this initial level of penetration, the company could then operate from a solid base and take further marketing activities from there. As far as cons to going international go, the first that comes to mind is the relatively low degree of operative experience currently prevalent within the company. Internationalisation always adds another dimension to the business, and it is easy for newcomers to make mistakes. Or in more optimistic terms, the learning curve is steep in this area. Taking the aforementioned factors into consideration, I would advise the company to go international and benefit from the business potential abroad, but to do so by only exporting the snowmobiles at first (with a slight â€Å"twist† though – see underneath). The countries I would go for are Sweden in Finland. The rationale for Sweden and Finland is compelling, I believe. As pointed out earlier, Scandinavia commands high sales in snowmobiles, which is no surprise at all, given its climatic situation, particularly in the northern parts, where snowmobiles are a substitute for cars. Seeing that I have to limit my choice to two countries due to budgetary constraints, these two are the one I would choose. Sweden is my first choice, and Finland makes a convenient second given the similarity in climate and landscape. Also, both countries are members of the European Union, which tends to make exporting business easier. In the target countries I would try to find an exclusive importer/distributor so as not to make things too complicated. As I pointed out earlier, there are a number of hybrid forms when it comes to modes of entry to foreign markets, and for the given situation, and in another scenario, one could also invest a small portion of FDI to create a central export hub that makes logistic sense to ship the vehicles to (i.e. somewhere north of Lulea, at the border of Sweden and Finland). From this hub the vehicles could then be further shipped to their final destination. Note that there is also an alternative to this logistical package, i.e. if feasible, the ship could call at several ports en route. But this scenario would mean further logistical involvement in the target country, and at this stage I think we should rather avoid that. Hence I would stick with the aforementioned option of an exclusive importer/distributor. I would suggest segmenting the market into Private riders Professional riders Institutions Private riders buy snowmobiles mainly for recreational activities, partially as substitute for their cars. According to a survey conducted by a number of universities in western USA, the reasons for owning a snowmobile (in the USA) are: To view the scenery To be with friends To get away from the usual demands of life and to do something with the family To be close with nature (International Snowmobile Manufacturers Association, Research Uncovers a Great Deal of Interest in Snowmobiling, n.d.). 67% of all riders are below 50 years old, with the average age of all snowmobile owners being 41 and having family and one kid (International Snowmobile Manufacturers Association, Snowmobiling Facts: Snow Facts, n.d.). Professional riders are people who may find it difficult to get to certain destination the â€Å"conventional† way and prefer (or, given the road situation, have) to use snowmobiles, or people who use them as part of their profession in the first place. Doctors, vets, hunters, ski instructors, and people in the tourism industry spring to mind. The third group, institutions, are bodies affiliated in some way to the state, such as law enforcement units (police, mountain police, rangers etc), and institutions in the corporate sector with employees/members (in the widest sense) exposed to outdoor work. The three groups will of course require different marketing approaches particularly with regard to the promotion policy. Production I am going to base my model for the export markets Sweden and Finland on Swedish statistics and will extrapolate the Finnish case, based on the rationale that many of the variables will be the same in both countries. It is difficult to make a compelling case for the UK market, if there is indeed such a thing. According to the International Snowmobile Manufacturers Association, there are about 2.6mn registered snowmobiles in the world: 1.69mn in the USA, 601,000 in Canada, and 318,000 in Scandinavia (Facts and Statistics about Snowmobiling, n.d.) . This pretty much adds up to (slightly above) the 2.6mn, which means that the number of snowmobiles in the rest of the world is negligible, and including the UK. My model is based on the specific demographics of Sweden. According to the information provided by the International Trade Administration of the US Department of Commerce (2004), there are currently about 130,000 snowmobiles in Sweden (or one for every 69 inhabitants). 8,000 units are sold every year. If these were only replacement purchases, the useful life of a snowmobile would be around 15 to 16 years. Whether these ARE in fact only replacement purchases or not does not really matter (of course parts of these 8,000 units are sold to first-time owners) – the relevant bit is the ratio of new sales in terms of existing units in the market, which is 6.67%. In other words, the turnover of existing numbers is 6.67% per year. Given the similarities between Sweden and Finland not the least in connection with climate and culture, I have extrapolated the demographic parameters of Sweden into the Finnish case (i.e. one snowmobile per 69 inhabitants, 6.67% of total units sold every year). My estimate puts the total number of snowmobiles in Finland to 75,000 (based on an estimated 5.2mn inhabitants in Finland, as given by the CIA (CIA World Factbook, n.d.)), and taking into consideration the annual sales ratio of 6.67%, I have come up with annual sales of a total of 5,000 snowmobiles in Finland. The four largest producers of snowmobiles are based overseas: Artic Cat, Bombardier Recreational Products, Polaris Industries, and Yamaha Motor Corporation. All of them sell to Scandinavia, but while those that have all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) in their product range sell them in the UK, I have not found a dealership that sells snowmobiles in the UK. My advice is to assume a markets size of about 10% of the Scandinavian model. For Scotland, the market size thus works out at 7,400, and annual sales could come in at around 500 (N.B. I am assuming that the market for snowmobiles in England is negligible in size). Traditionally the ratio of the market share of the three largest players has been 4:2:1 (see also Ries Trout, 2001). And it is safe to say that the top three spots have been taken by the aforementioned large producers, and a quick search on the web shows that there are a few smaller players as well. So our goal should be to achieve a market share of 5% in the three markets we are going to enter (i.e. UK/Scotland, Sweden, Finland). Hence the annual sales targets are: Sweden: 5% x 8,000 = 400 units Finland: 5% x 5,000 = 250 units Scotland: 5% x 500 = 25 units Let’s top it up by an additional 25 units in case the base case for Scotland/UK is too pessimistic, and we end up with an annual sales target of 700 units, which will also be our production target. Unfortunately no data have been provided with regard to any preferences for the 125cc or the 400cc model. I would strongly suggest to carry out some market research in this particular field, otherwise we run a large risk of producing the wrong article. However, if you say you are willing to take that risk, I would advise you to split the production two thirds to one third in favour of the 125cc units (i.e. 467 125cc’s and 233 400cc’s). This way the capital tied up in production and storage of finished products is less than in the case of a 50/50 split. Also, my guess is that the market for private (i.e. recreational) riders is probably largest, and they may be more reluctant to go for the substantially more expensive option – as opposed to professional riders and institutions, who might find it worthwhile to invest in the faster package. But again – I strongly recommend additional market research in this area. Most of the snowmobiles currently in the market are above 500cc, so both of our models will create a niche. If we position the models well, we may attract new first-time buyers (see below, â€Å"Advertising/Promotion†). As far as the colours are concerned, the same is true: We have too little data to base a decision on. In contrast to the aforementioned issue of 125cc vs. 400cc, I would suggest to build equal numbers of all colours. Pricing I understand that marginal costs of production are GBP 6,450 for the 125cc model, and GBP 8,990 for the 400cc model. I am not sure if you are aware that these costs are already above the SALES prices of all but the most expensive models made by the top four producers! The one 125cc model available in the market is for kids and is priced at GBP 1,800, although I don’t believe an adult version would change much in terms of pricing. The 500cc to 600cc models on the market are in the region of GBP 5,000 to 7,000. There are two options: First, we can try to cut costs. Given that we are new to the market, I doubt that we can achieve prices that are higher than those of our competitors – let alone prices that are 50% to 75% above those in the market! The second option, in general, to achieve a price that is beyond anything in the market is to convince the target buyers that our product is unique. As I pointed out earlier, our product is unique in that its engine size is smaller than those on the market, and we can use this to our advantage. However, I believe that we can throw all the money we want at advertising agencies, but trying to make people buy snowmobiles that are effectively inferior in terms of performance to those on the market at 50% mark-ups, that is the proverbial horse that won’t run. Even more so as we are new to the market – why should anyone trust us? So my advice is to go back to the drawing board and cut costs to an extent that we can afford a mark-up of 20% on top of marginal costs and still be in the range of other producers (i.e. around GBP 5,000 to a maximum of 6,000). There are no large price differentials among the three markets we have targeted (and certainly not among the two Scandinavian countries), so my advice applies to all of them. Distribution channel As pointed out earlier, I would advise the company to find a reliable dealership with nationwide coverage (or partners) and sign a contract of exclusivity with him. This way we could benefit from existing infrastructure, and we would not have to worry about the â€Å"final mile†. Another option would be to have the ship call at numerous ports and thus avoid an exclusive agreement. This option would come with increased levels of flexibility, but at the same time it would require more planning on our side (N.B. the same goes for the building of a central hub at the Swedish-Finnish border, which would also involve a small portion of FDI, as pointed out earlier). For a start, I would prefer to sign a one-year exclusivity agreement. This would also have to include a reliable form of on-site after-sales service for cases of warranty etc. Advertising/Promotion There are numerous magazines that deal with snowmobiling on a purely â€Å"funs-sports† or a more technically advanced level. These will have to be our no.1 medium of advertising. We should also support our exclusive dealer in his efforts to sell our products – i.e. POS advertising on his premises and at downstream dealerships he may sell to. On top of the snowmobiling magazines, we should advertise in trade magazines of the professional groups I identified as potential buyers earlier on: Hunters, vets, doctors, ski instructors. There could also be publications of regional associations, which would allow us to find our target groups more easily (as we want to address hunters in northern parts of Sweden and Finland – no point in targeting these groups in, say, Malmà ¶). I doubt that radio, let alone TV commercials are within our budgetary limits. The institutional group should be addressed by a sales person directly. We may want to stress the fact that our product is unique in that it is probably more economical and hence environmentally agreeable due to the comparatively small cubic capacity. This could be our niche, as there are hardly any snowmobiles with said specifications on the market (most units are above 500cc). Entry into new markets We should try to consolidate our experience before rolling out into other markets. The top players are already there, so it is no question of capturing any first-mover advantage. I would suggest to enter Norway next, and Russia in a subsequent wave. Norway is similar to Sweden, and it is part of the EEC, so any lessons learnt in Sweden and Finland can probably be easily implemented in Norway. Russia will be a different animal altogether and should not be tackled before we have all structures safely in place. Reference list CIA n.d., The World Factbook. Retrieved 27 August, 2006, from https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html International Snowmobile Manufacturers Association n.d., Facts and Statistics about Snowmobiling. Retrieved 27 August, 2006, from http://www.snowmobile.org/pr_snowfacts.asp International Snowmobile Manufacturers Association n.d., Research Uncovers a Great Deal of Interest in Snowmobiling. Retrieved 27 August, 2006, from http://www.snowmobile.org/pr_research-06-aug.asp International Snowmobile Manufacturers Association n.d., Snowmobiling Facts: Snow Facts. Retrieved 27 August, 2006, from http://www.snowmobile.org/facts_snfcts.asp International Snowmobile Manufacturers Association n.d., Snowmobiling Facts: Snowmobiling in Europe. Retrieved 27 August, 2006, from http://www.snowmobile.org/facts_europe.asp Porter, ME 1998, Competitive Advantage, Free Press, London. Ries, A and Trout, J 2001, Positioning: the Battle For Your Mind, McGraw-Hill Education, London. US Department of Commerce, International Trade Administration, International Market Insight: Snowmobiles, 2002. Retrieved 27 August, 2006, from http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/epic/internet/inimr-ri.nsf/en/gr111748e.html

Emerging Threat of Invasive Fungal Infections

Emerging Threat of Invasive Fungal Infections Introduction Emerging threat of Invasive Fungal Infections Invasive fungal infection continues to be a major problem associated with high morbidity and mortality mainly to immunocompromised patients as well as to immunocomptent patients but to a much lower extent. (1) Invasive fungal infection and fungemia are caused by a variety of fungal pathogens. The most commonly isolated yeasts are Candida species (spp.) and Cryptococcus spp. Aspergillus species remains the most common mould however, Fusarium spp., Scedosporium spp., Penicillium spp. and Zygomycetes are increasingly isolated.(2) Patients mostly become colonized during hospitalization however, very few patients who become colonized develop sever infection. Nosocomial fungal infections can represent up to 15% of all nosocomial infections.(3) The spectrum of opportunistic invasive fungal infections has increased substantially owing to the rapidly growing population of immunocompromised patients.(4) Due to lack of specificity of symptoms diagnosis of fungal infections can be challenging.(3 ) Candida infections are mostly prevalent in critically ill patients in intensive care units (ICUs) and very low birth weight infants. Candidaemia is highly fatal with a reported mortality in the range from 36% to 63%.(5) In the recent years, mortality rates in ICU patients have decreased substantially probably due to earlier initiation of antifungal therapy.(6) Conversely, aspergillosis is the most common fungal infection in immunocompromised most specifically in haematological malignancy and haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) patients. Incidence of aspergillosis has increased considerably but mortality has decreased owing to better diagnosis and treatment.(7) Treatment of Invasive Fungal Infections Treatment and prophylaxis of invasive fungal infections involves systemic antifungal therapy. Historically amphotericin B and Flucytosine have been the only available antifungals; these were followed by the development of the older triazole antifungals; fluconazole and itraconazole in the late 1980s. More recent advances have led to the release of amphotericin lipid formulas, newer broad spectrum triazoles (voriconazole, posaconazole) and the newest class of echinocandins.(8) Amphotericin B either as a deoxycholate or in lipid formulations has been the backbone of antifungal therapy for many years. The triazole antifungals have also emerged as front-line treatment and prophylaxis for many systemic fungal infections. Triazole antifungals used systemically include fluconazole, itraconazole, posaconazole and voriconazole. Fluconazole has a major role in prophylaxis and treatment of both invasive and superficial fungal infection. Voriconazole is the drug of choice in invasive aspergillosis of the lung. Posaconazole is used as a salvage therapy for invasive aspergillosis as well as a prophylaxis in HSCT and neutropenic patients.(9) Itraconazole is active against most fungi except for Zygomycetes.(10) Terbinafine which is widely used in skin infections is also effective against systemic candidiasis including vulvovaginal candidiasis although less effective than fluconazole and itraconazole.(11,12) Flucytosine is used in combination with amphotericin B for treat ment of severe systemic mycoses and has also in combination with other antifungals for treatment of colorectal carcinoma.(13) Echinocandins Introduced Despite the advantages in medical practice and introduction of newer agents, mortality due to fungal infections remained high with mortality due to Aspergillus approaching 100% in HSCT patients.(14,15) There has also been a change in epidemiology of fungal infections with non-albicans species reaching up to 50% with no significant change in mortality in spite of these newer agents in two studies conducted 15 years apart.(16,17) Echinocandins is a newer class of systemic antifungals introduced after almost 15 years of no new agents. They work by inhibiting ÃŽ ²-D glucan in fungal cell wall. Echinocandins have favourable kinetics which allows their once daily dosing. (18) The first echinocandin product to be licensed is caspofungin (FDA approved in 2001), that was followed by micafungin (FDA approved in 2005), and anidulafungin (FDA approved in 2006). (19)The discovery of the echinocandin antifungals has provided a new alternative for patients with equal if not higher efficacy relative to older agents and apparently lower toxicity.(20,21) Echinocandins are extensively used in the treatment of invasive fungal infections mainly invasive candidiasis in neutropenic and critically ill patients.(22)They are also approved as a salvage treatment for invasive aspergillosis.(23) The major advantage of the echinocandins members is their higher efficacy against many candida species including C. glabrata and C. krusei res istant to fluconazole added to their lower toxicity rates compared to older antifungals.(20,21,24) The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) recommends echinocandins as first line treatment of Candidaemia while caspofungin is offered as an alternative to voriconazole for treatment of invasive aspergillosis.(22,23) Echinocandins showed equal efficacy to triazole antifungals and even superior efficacy in subgroup analysis since it demonstrates superior efficacy for prophylaxis in patients with hematologic malignancies and undergoing HSCT.(25) Echinocandins Safety Treatment of fungal infections is challenging and riddled with adverse events. (26,27) Echinocandins showed no difference in drug related adverse events and all-cause mortality as compared to triazole antifungals where both groups have shown to be generally well tolerated, nevertheless, echinocandins has significantly decreased adverse event related mortality compared to triazole antifungals.(25) Echinocandins have revealed hepatic toxicity in clinical trials yet the incidence is considered low.(28) The most commonly reported toxicities associated with echinocandins in clinical trials are rash, phlebitis, and nausea. The renal profile of this class appears to be superior to that of older agents.(29,30) Serious adverse events reported with echinocandins in the context of clinical trials are very few with atrial fibrillation and seizures in two cases treated with anidulafungin and disseminated intravascular coagulation in another one treated with micafungin.(31,32) Unfortunately, till now there is insufficient data on the frequency of hepatic and renal toxicities in normal clinical settings although they have already been reported in context of clinical trials. Moreover, as these agents became more widely used outside clinical trials, new adverse reactions are surfacing. Anidulafungin has been reported to be associated with alopecia in a female patient after several months of treatment.(33) Anidulafungin has also been associated with life-threatening haemodynamic stability in another patient during administration.(34) Three cases has shown a considerable drop in their cardiac index or a worsening of the mean arterial pressure, one following caspofungin administration and the other two post anidulafungin administration.(35) Echinocandins has also been associated with a decrease in cardiac contractility in few case reports and in vitro studies which warrant further investigations.(36,37) Further studies seem to be mandatory to investigate this po tential risk. Limitations on Detecting Risk Pre-marketing studies are incapable of detecting rare events. In addition due to their short duration they are also unable to detect delayed toxicities. It’s worth noting that to detect doubling of a 0.1% event with 80% power; more than 50,000 subjects need to be studied. This leads to drugs being authorized without serious rare events are adequately studied. One cannot also be sure that the safety profile demonstrated in the pre-marketing clinical trials with limited number of subjects remains unchanged when used by millions of patients in normal settings. This difference in safety profile demonstrated is not only attributed to difference in number of users but may also be due to choosing of healthier subjects to participate in clinical trials, providing better care to clinical trials participants in addition to shorter duration of exposure in clinical trials as compared to normal settings. This difference in safety profile may as well be attributed to the fact that participa nts in clinical trials are rarely representative to the general patient population. (38,39) Post Marketing Risk Detection Pharmacovigilance is defined as the continuous process of detecting, evaluating, communicating and improving safety of medicines under normal conditions.(40) Post marketing data on adverse events include spontaneous case reports, medical record databases, and data collected in prospective postmarketing studies.(41) Spontaneous reports are unsolicited reports of clinical observations originating outside of a formal clinical trial and that are submitted to regulatory agencies or drug manufacturers.(42) The report is considered important if it involves an ADR that is new, rare, serious or occurring at a higher frequency than expected.(43) Spontaneous reporting systems have a potential for detecting or ‘signalling’ new ADRS that have not been previously recognized in clinical trials.(38) The most crucial factor that determines the value of spontaneous reports is the quality of submitted reports and whether it has a complete description of the ADR, patient demographics, baseline characteristics other confounding factors or medication and temporal relation.(42) Signal detection using large postmarketing ADRs databases is the first step in detecting unknown and unexpected associations between drug exposure and adverse events which has to be followed by qualitative case-by-case analysis to identify signals that may be of value or warrant further investigation.(44,45) Safety evaluators usually look at common trends or patterns or and potential causal relations. (42) Advantages and Limitations of Spontaneous Reporting In all countries, the nation pharmacovigilance system relies on spontaneous reporting by healthcare practitioners, patients and manufacturers to the national coordinating center.(46) Spontaneous reporting is the only source of pharmacovigilance that provides the highest volume of data at the lowest cost.(47) The most important function of spontaneous reporting is early detection of signals which helps in hypothesis formulation that may lead to initiation of confirmatory investigations or regulatory actions that may end up with warnings, label changes or product withdrawal.(48,49) Large postmarketing databases are the most important source for mining of drug safety data, however, analysing data from these databases is very challenging owing to the limitations of these unsolicited reporting systems.(50) One of the most important limitations of spontaneous reporting is the quality of data since cases are mostly poorly documented with no follow up data which necessitates contacting the reporter for more data.(42) Another limitation is under-reporting whose extent is very hard to estimate and which depends on many factors including the severity of the reported ADR among many other factors.(51,52) Reporting rate also undergoes fluctuation along the drug life cycle with higher rates noticed when the drug is newly introduced to the market (weber effect). Higher reporting rates are also noticed for serious medical events or after negative publicity. (53) It’s estimated that FDA receives only 1% of ADRs in one study and 8% in another of all occurring ADRs which affects is reflected on the inability of spontaneous reporting system to estimate incidence of a specified ADR. (54,55) Role of Data mining in Pharmacovigilance The role of data mining in the field of pharmacovigilance is evolving. At the outset, it’s worth noting that data mining methods involve identifying the observed relation between a drug and a certain ADR. These relation identification methods are based totally on the frequency with which the drug and event are reported. The relations identified using these data mining techniques cannot be used to prove or negate a causal relation.(50) Data mining methods can elucidate complex drug issues such as concomitant medications or conditions that may not be investigated using traditional methods. However, this is usually confronted by the non-systematic attainment of background rates of adverse events and drug exposure data which hinder estimation of risk based on spontaneous reporting databases.(56,57) In the context of data mining, the term ‘signal’ is used to refer to a quantitative association between a drug and an event which exceeds a certain threshold set by the investigator that warrant further evaluation. The ‘signal score’ is the number reflecting the strength of the quantitative association which reflects how much the observed frequency differs from that expected.(50,56,58) The application of computational and statistical methods to large drug safety databases for identifying drug-event pairs disproportionately reported at higher frequency than expected by a statistical independence model is referred to as ‘Safety data mining’ and ‘disproportionality analysis’. Many data-mining methods are applied to pharmacovigilance; the ones that are most commonly reported in the literature are the proportional reporting ratio (PRR) and the reporting odds ratio (ROR) in addition to the Bayesian and empirical Bayesian methods.(59–62) Signal Detection Methods Disproportionality analysis is the main concept behind computerized pharmacovigilance methods. Disproportionality analysis is dependent on the construction of a 22 contingency table as shown in table (1). (63) Disproportionality methods differ in how they are calculated and how they account for low counts. They are generally classified into Frequentist and Bayesian approaches. Drug of interestOther drugs Event of interestab Other event cd Table 1: Statistical significance in spontaneous reporting is calculated using the frequencies in the table above Frequentist approaches Frequentist approach usually accompanied by hypothesis testing of independence using chi-square or Fisher’s exact test.(64) Proportional reporting rate (PRR) or Case/Non-case design PRR can be considered as an approximation of conditional probability and is calculated using the following equation: PRR= = a/(a+c) à · b/(b+d). Where a/(a+c) can be perceived as the probability of developing the event of interest given that the drug of interest is taken and an event in turn, b/(b+d) can also be perceived as the probability of developing the event of interest given that another drug is received given that any other drug is taken and an event occurred.(63) PRR is a valuable aid to signal generation which is easy to calculate and interpret with various refinements made possible.(59) Reporting Odds Ratio ROR is a ratio of two ratios and is calculated according to the equation: ROR= a/bà ·c/d where a/b is the ratio of the patients who had the event of interest a divided by the number of patients who had the event while taking other medications. This ratio in turn is divided by c/d which is calculated by dividing all patients who had the drug of interest but did not have the event of interest by all other patients who did not have the event of interest given that they took any other drugs. (63) ROR is not affected by general under reporting for a specific drug or as specific event.(65) It has been proposed that ROR may be less biased than other disproportionality methods being considered as the case-control studies analysis.(66) Nevertheless, others believe that in practice there is no difference in performance between ROR and PRR.(60,67) Bayesian approaches Bayesian approaches tries to account for uncertainty in disproportionality measure calculated from small samples by shrinking the disproportionality measure towards baseline case of no association. This shrinking is a reduction of spurious associations when there are not enough data to support it and is proportional to the variability in the disproportionality statistics.(64) The Bayesian approaches include Multi-item Gamma Poisson Shrinker (MGPS) which is currently used by the FDA.(68,69) MGPS is based on an empirical Bayes framework and its computed measure is called empirical Bayes geometric mean (EBGM) which is the Bayesian version of the Relative Reporting Ratio (RRR). RRR is the ratio of the incidence of the observed incidence rate of a drug-event pair to its expected rate under the assumption that the drug and event are independent.(70) Another Bayesian approach adopted by the WHO is called Bayesian Confidence Propagation Neural Network (BCPNN), which estimates a Bayesian version of the Information Component (IC). A positive IC indicates that based on all reports in the database the drug-event pair is reported more often than expected. (61) Postmarketing Safety Databases for Signal Detection Databases utilized in drug safety data mining are postmarketing databases maintained by manufactures, regulators and different consortia. These databases are different in their reporting guidelines, coding dictionaries and rules for data entry. These databases vary in size and may reach millions of reports. The analysis of these databases may yield different results and so a single database available to all stakeholders is needed. Ideally this database will not have duplicate reports or missing data and is consistently coded for drug and event name. A number of databases are commonly available for signal detection activities, however; they differ in accessibility. These include the database of the WHO International Drug Monitoring Programme and the FDA’s public release safety database (AERS).(50) WHO Safety Database The WHO safety database is a large database receiving AEs from the national collaborating centers participating in the WHO Drug monitoring program.(71) It has the advantage of having the drug names coded according to the Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) classification and ADRS are coded using the WHO Adverse Reaction Terminology. However, data is accessible by subscription only.(68) European Medicines Agency EudraVigilance database The EMEA pharmacovigilance system is called the EudraVigilance. It has 2 modules one for clinical trials and another for post marketing surveillance. It has analytical capabilities and performs signal detection in terms of PRR and ROR. It has restricted access even to manufacturers who can only see reports that they have submitted to the EMEA.(72) US FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (AERS) AERS is the FDA’s postmarketing safety database. AERS database is intended to support the FDAs post-marketing safety surveillance program for drugs. It relies on unsolicited reports submitted by healthcare professionals and patients on adverse events and medication error reports as well as required reports by manufacturers and so represents a useful resource for investigating drug safety.(73) The public-release version of AERS is available beginning with January 2004 as quarterly data directly downloadable from the FDA website. The new FDA FAERS was launched in the 10th September, 2012, and replaced the Adverse Event Reporting System (also known as Legacy AERS).(74) The main aim of the current study is to: Map the safety profile of echinocandins antifungals.as compared to other drugs. Compare the safety profile of echinocandins to that of other systemic antifungals. Assess the effect of changing the reference group on the top signals identified. To achieve these aims data mining methods and disproportionality analysis will be employed to the FDA AERS to achieve these aims. This study will therefore add to the knowledge on the safety profile of this newer class of antifungals.